Project description
A closer look at ancient environmental challenges in Egypt
In ancient Egypt, human activities, climate shifts, and pollution posed threats to both the environment and public health. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the RECLEAN project seeks to illuminate this historical nexus. By examining unstudied papyri, integrating diverse sources, and utilising environmental proxies, RECLEAN aims to unveil the environmental challenges of the past. In its first two years, the project, hosted by the University of Basel, focused on interdisciplinary training and research. The subsequent year, based at the University of Udine, will consolidate findings on ancient environmental awareness. RECLEAN’s outcomes, disseminated through open access channels and public engagements, aspire to foster contemporary reflections on environmental stewardship and the imperative for proactive intervention.
Objective
RECLEAN aims to study the impact of human activities on the environment of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt (ca. III c. BCE - VII c. CE), the effects of climate variability and pollution on the health of the inhabitants of Egypt, and the people’s degree of awareness of environmental issues and their consequences on health. Research will focus on a body of sources that have not yet been comprehensively analysed, the papyri from Egypt written in Greek and Latin, which will be integrated with literary and historical sources, archaeological finds and inscriptions, and with the results of studies based on palaeoclimate proxies and palaeopathological samples. The outgoing phase of RECLEAN (years 1 and 2) will take place at the Departement Altertumswissenschaften of the University of Basel, which hosts the Basel Climate Change and Ancient History Lab, an interdisciplinary initiative dedicated to the study of ancient environmental issues: here the fellow will receive specific training in Environmental History of Antiquity, essential for the pursuit of the project’s objectives, in a vibrant and multidisciplinary environment that brings together specialists in the Humanities and in the Environmental Sciences. The return phase (year 3) will take place at the Dipartimento di studi umanistici e del patrimonio culturale of the University of Udine, where the fellow will consolidate her preparation in Papyrology and further delve into the subject of “environmental awareness” in Antiquity. The results of RECLEAN will be made available to the scientific community through open access publications and presentations at conferences, while the communication activities will reach a wider audience with the aim of stimulating a reflection and debate on environmental issues in a historical perspective, thus contributing to raising awareness of the magnitude that environmental problems have reached today when compared to the past and the need for urgent intervention.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history ancient history
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
- humanities languages and literature literature studies history of literature
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
33100 Udine
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.